A submersible pump especially for use in deep wells, either water or oil and combinations thereof, comprises an electric motor and a plurality of pump stages, the motor being lowermost and separated from the pump stages by a seal section to substantially prevent well fluid leakage into the motor housing. At times, there are a hundred or more pump stages and the electric motor may be some thirty feet in length with a diameter of approximately six inches. In order to optimize and/or change the pumping performance, pump stages are added or subtracted from the assembly, which requires pulling the assembly from the well. This is not only time consuming and costly, but is also inconvenient and unnecessary.
This invention provides a means of adding or subtracting pump stages by remotely controlling one or more couplings strategically located in the assembly.
The coupling of this invention is not limited to underground applications but can be used in other applications where similar problems of coupling and uncoupling members occur.